Ex-British PM Brown seeks lucrative speaking dates: Report

London: Britain`s former Prime Minister
Gordon Brown is offering himself for speaking engagements at a
cost of 100,000 dollars an hour.

Brown, whose book on the global financial crisis is due
out in November, has asked a London agency to look for
possible engagements for him in the Middle East and Asia, the
Spectator magazine reported today, quoting an unnamed
"impeccable" source.
The former premier, whose centre-left Labour party lost
Britain`s general election in May, is also said to be asking
for five-star hotel accommodation, a first class plane ticket
and three business class ones as part of any deal.

His wife Sarah is reportedly available to present prizes
at events where he speaks for a further 20,000 dollars.

Brown said before leaving the top job in British politics
that he wanted to do "something good" afterwards, indicating
this could include working in the charity sector or education
rather than business.

He has kept a low profile since the election defeat,
writing his book at home in Scotland, but last week appeared
on television appealing to Britons to donate to Pakistan`s
flood relief effort.
The fees reportedly being asked for by Brown are
significantly lower than those thought to be commanded by his
predecessor Tony Blair, one of the most popular speakers on
the international circuit.

Blair said this week he would give the proceeds of his
forthcoming autobiography, set to total millions of dollars,
to a project helping the rehabilitation of military veterans
injured in conflicts like Iraq and Afghanistan.